Trace Earns Humanitarian Award

Published: Feb 24, 2010

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Alabama lead singer Randy Owen greeted hundreds of country music radio programmers during Nashville’s Country Radio Seminar to present the Artist Humanitarian Award for 2010. Randy, who won the award in 2009, says that he was grateful to country radio for supporting Country Cares, a program for St. Jude Children’s Hospital that he founded nearly 20 years ago. “It gives me great pleasure to be able to introduce the winner of the Humanitarian Award this year. I personally wish I could sing like he can, and I wish that I had run into a couple of songs that he’s had—Trace Adkins.”

Trace himself seemed humbled by the award, joking with the radio programmers. “I just want to say that for those of you who know me as well as my wife and other people, you know that I do truly deserve this simply because I’ve never killed anybody,” he joked, setting off a round of laughter in the conference room. “I would now like to announce my retirement,” he laughed.

Getting serious, he said, “I do what I can. It’s miniscule, it seems sometimes. I just try to help folks out where we see needs and we do what we can, and I don’t feel deserving of this. I’m humbled by it, and honored and grateful.” Trace has worked on behalf of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. He has also performed several concerts to support military causes, including the National Memorial Day concert in Washington, D.C., in 2009.

Trace also said his musical admiration for Alabama is mutual. “The first concert I went to as a kid was White Snake, the second was Alabama. Those shows were a little different,” he joked.